When I say "visits," I should clarify that I haven't yet figured out how to distinguish between "unique visits" and "page views." For example, one person could log onto the site and click through a dozen different posts. When the person first logs onto the blog, that's a "visit," and each time they click onto a different post, that's a "page view."
I use Blogger.com to create this site and when I log into my account, the first thing I see is a number and a graph indicating the number of visits since I last logged on. I always close one eye and try to overlook these metrics, because I find it distracting to have numbers swimming in my head when I'm about to create a new post.
I've worked at newspapers for many years, and I can't imagine how any reporter would be able to do his or her job effectively if, when they walked in the newsroom, they were immediately bombarded with how many copies the paper sold the previous day. If the number was low, it would be depressing and make you wonder if all your hard work was in vain. If the number was high, it might give you a false sense of security and cause you to become a bit complacent.
I also recently discovered that when I log into my Blogger account, each post has the number of page views it has received listed beside it. I also try to ignore this number, which is sometimes embarrassingly low.
If I paid attention to the page views, it may discourage me from continuing to blog. Was it really worth the hour of my time and effort that I poured into writing that movie review if only five people clicked on it?
Another "metric" that I have decided to overlook, for the time being, is whether readers leave comments to my posts or not. So far, the only post that has generated a significant number of comments is the one I wrote on July 17, 2013, after a jury found George Zimmerman not guilty in the death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin.
Obviously, the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case is an emotional topic that a lot of people have strong feelings about. I felt compelled to express my views about the case, but in general, I tend to steer clear of controversial subject matter. I tend to think it's far too easy to blog about hot topics just to drive traffic to your site and get people to leave comments.
It takes at least 100 readers to generate just one comment for a given blog post, according to Problogger.net, an excellent site that offers tips for bloggers. Most people are passive readers, myself included, and usually don't comment on blog posts or news articles they read.
So, obviously, if only five people read one of my blog posts, the odds of one of them leaving a comment is pretty low. The solution is, of course, to write posts that attract more readers and/or better market my existing posts. Easier said than done...
I know savvy users of social media are supposed to constantly track how many hits their posts get and tailor their content to attract the highest response. But I've found that monitoring the metrics can drive you mad.
So I've adopted the mindset that, like the age-old tale of the tortoise and the hare, slow and steady wins the race. I'll continue blogging as a way to steadily build a readership over time.
I'm hoping those who enjoy this blog will also be interested in my various long-form projects, including my novel, The Chloe Chronicles (currently available on Amazon - shameless plug!), the documentary Lady Wrestler I made about little-known African-American female wrestlers (currently putting on the finishing touches), and the book I'm co-authoring with Chicago businessman Raymond Lambert about his legendary comedy club, All Jokes Aside.
This blog post is part of a series on "Adventures in Social Media." In the next installment, which I plan to publish on Monday, Nov. 24, I'll explore the very sticky situation of using social media after some tragic event has occurred - to someone else.
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